Intensity of Nordic Walking in young females with different peak O₂ consumption

Abstract

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the physiological reaction to the different intensity Nordic Walking exercise in young females with different aerobic capacity values. Twenty-eight 19-24-year-old female university students participated in the study. Their peak O2 consumption (VO2 peak kg(-1)) and individual ventilatory threshold (IVT) were measured using a continuous incremental protocol until volitional exhaustion on treadmill. The subjects were analysed as a whole group (n = 28) and were also divided into three groups based on the measured VO2 peak kg(-1) (Difference between groups is 1 SD) as follows: 1.>46 ml min(-1) kg(-1) (n = 8), 2. 41-46 ml min(-1) kg(-1) (n = 12) and 3. <41 ml min(-1) kg(-1) (n = 8). The second test consisted of four times 1 km Nordic Walking with increasing speed on the 200 m indoor track, performed as a continuous study (Step 1 - slow walking, Step 2 - usual speed walking, Step 3 - faster speed walking and Step 4 - maximal speed walking). During the walking test expired gas was sampled breath-by-breath and heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were asked using the Borg RPE scale separately for every 1 km of the walking test. No significant differences emerged between groups in HR of IVT (172.4 +/- 10.3-176.4 +/- 4.9 beats min(-1)) or maximal HR (190.1 +/- 7.3-191.6 +/- 7.8 beats min(-1)) during the treadmill test. During maximal speed walking the speed (7.4 +/- 0.4-7.5 +/- 0.6 km h(-1)) and O2 consumption (30.4 +/- 3.9-34.0 +/- 4.5 ml min(-1) kg(-1)) were relatively similar between groups (P > 0.05). However, during maximal speed walking, the O2 consumption in the second and third groups was similar with the IVT (94.9 +/- 17.5% and 99.4 +/- 15.5%, respectively) but in the first group it was only 75.5 +/- 8.0% from IVT. Mean HR during the maximal speed walking was in the first group 151.6 +/- 12.5 beats min(-1), in the second (169.7 +/- 10.3 beats min(-1)) and the third (173.1 +/- 15.8 beats min(-1)) groups it was comparable with the calculated IVT level. The Borg RPE was very low in every group (11.9 +/- 2.0-14.4 +/- 2.3) and the relationship with VO2and HR was not significant during maximal speed Nordic Walking. In summary, the present study indicated that walking is an acceptable exercise for young females independent of their initial VO2 peak level. However, females with low initial VO2 peak can be recommended to exercise with the subjective 'faster speed walking'. In contrast, females with high initial VO2 peak should exercise with maximal speed.

The influence of a ten-week Nordic walking training-rehabilitation program on the level of lipids in blood in overweight and obese postmenopausal women

“…So far 16 randomized (1,062 participants) and 11 observational studies (831) of Nordic Walking have been carried out. These studies have confirmed the positive effects of Nordic Walking on resting cardiac activity, arterial blood pressure, exercise tolerance, exercise oxygen consumption and quality of life in the course of various diseases of young 13 ) , middle-aged 14 ) and elderly persons 8 , 15 , 16 , 17 ) . It was confirmed that this model of rehabilitation, in particular the supervised one 5 ) , extends the walking distance of patients suffering from atherosclerosis in the lower extremities 18 ) , improves the fitness of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease 19 , 20 ) , reduces low back pain 5 , 21 ) , symptoms of depression 22 ) and fibromyalgia 23 , 24 ) , improves the quality of sleep, reduces body weight, improves exercise tolerance and attenuates risk factors.…”

Muscular and metabolic responses to different Nordic walking techniques, when style matters

“…Therefore, performing a weak style NW rather that the suggested technique could decrease the efficacy of training program. This can be relevant when fit people perform NW; indeed it has been demonstrated that Nordic walking on flat surface is not intense enough to reach high training zone in young and fit subjects [ 34 ]. When subjects were asked to use Nordic poles by keeping the arms extended the pattern of arm motion resemble those of other pole walking technique in which, a higher arm position, and a continuous hand grip is suggested [ 15 ].…”

Unfavorable influence of structured exercise program on total leisure‐time physical activity

“…METs used to calculate the dose of physical activity in the NW and RT groups were compatible with previous studies. The intensity of NW has been reported to vary between 4.5 and 11.2 METs, depending on the walking speed, slope, or pole length (Hansen & Smith, ; Jurimae et al., ; Schiffer et al., , ). The majority of previous studies have been done with healthy, young, and physically active women, which may explain some of the higher METs than in the present study.…”